Northglenn police officer Cameron Woods is being praised for his heroism after he jumped into a creek to save a child’s life amid a harrowing crash scene in Commerce City earlier this week.
The incident unfolded on March 15, when Woods and his partner were en route to follow up on a previous accident within their jurisdiction.
As they approached the intersection of 88th Avenue and Dahlia Street, they were met with a scene of chaos.
“At first, we thought it was a brush fire, but as we drew closer, we realized it was an accident — a severe one at that,” recounted Woods, who has served with the Northglenn Police Department for four years.
A car, driven by a 14-year-old with three other children on board, had careened out of control, striking a guardrail before colliding head-on with a minivan carrying two female adults.
The force of the impact sent the car hurtling into a nearby creek.
“I think the accident happened approximately 20 to 30 seconds before we physically were on the scene,” Woods noted.
According to police, the situation escalated when the teen driver was ejected from the vehicle into the creek, necessitating immediate intervention.
Acting swiftly, Woods spotted an off-duty Denver firefighter already in the water with the child and instinctively rushed to assist.
“My first instinct was just to go straight over there,” Woods recalled. “I climbed over the car, got into the water, and we were able to lift the child out of the water.”
For approximately 10 critical minutes, Woods and the off-duty firefighter worked tirelessly to keep the child stable until the arrival of the fire department. Their efforts proved pivotal in ensuring the child’s survival.
“When you get accidents of this magnitude and kids involved, it’s a very stressful thing and it heightens what you’re doing,” Woods reflected.
Despite the inherent risks, Woods spoke on the importance of instinct and training in guiding split-second decisions for first responders.
“Really, just start helping. Find something to do. Find somebody to help,” he urged. “At the end of the day, a lot of the training is you’re helping somebody else first, and if something happens to you, that’s just the price we’re going to have to pay because we’re out here to help other people, not us.”
Woods expressed gratitude for the collaboration of fellow first responders on the scene and underscored the incident’s sobering reminder of the consequences of road safety negligence.
“Commerce City police told CBS News Colorado it still expects everyone involved or impacted in the crash to survive,” the report concluded.
